Nikola Tesla, whose spark of genius helped harness the power of Niagara Fall, now overlooks his roaring, liquid engine.
May 17 – Only two years ago today, we were in Niagara Falls (Canada side)—on a photo safari for our then-upcoming, now-published book, Lover’s Leap Legends: From Sappho of Lesbos to Wah-Wah-Tee of Waco. My “Trip Notes” comment for that day: “Up early and over to Canada to shoot Nikola Tesla statue on Table Rock.” That’s Leland’s version of “early” …. i.e. up before sunrise to be in place when the light of the rising sun best defines the subject…. But I digress.
We had come to investigate the two similar, but different, legends of the Falls and wound up with an entire chapter examining the “Legend of the White Canoe, aka Maid of the Mist.” With the rich graphics associated with generations of travel to the legendary Falls and the complexity of the legend adapting to evolving social attitudes, it became its own full chapter in the book.
One of the great advantages of these research trips is learning so much beyond your stated subject. The Falls has a fascinating history of Indian presence, explorer accounts, pop culture iconography and industrial exploitation. We documented some of that as we explored:
Few of the scientific geniuses that unlocked the secrets of nature have the hero status they once enjoyed. An exception is Nikola Tesla who, though a brilliant electrical engineer, was New Age before the term was coined. His discoveries or improvements to existing technologies were impressive, but his alluding to death rays and limitless free electricity along with his dalliances in the paranormal and belief in extraterrestrials has struck a chord with contemporary fans.
Tesla has bronze memorial statues on both the American and Canadian sides of the Falls.